Telstra internet outage drags on

More than 1500 broadband customers were still without internet connections on Thursday, five days after flooding in the Wollongong exchange disrupted services.

A large number of Telstra customers in the CBD and surrounding areas lost their internet and phone services last Saturday following heavy storms.

While 1400 fixed line services have been repaired, Telstra area general manager Mike Marom said work was continuing on restoring all ADSL connections.

‘‘We’ve had some good progress,’’ Mr Marom said.

‘‘The ADSL work is still continuing and we are still working two teams around the clock on that restoration.

‘‘We have had new equipment installed at the exchange and at this stage we’ve connected just a bit more than 1800 services from the original 3500 that were impacted at the start of the week.’’

Mr Marom said it was a complex job involving the disconnection and reconnection of each individual service.

‘‘At this stage assuming we don’t encounter any delays or issues we expect the bulk of the reconnections to be done sometime Friday.

‘‘We absolutely appreciate the patience of the community over this period in the current situation.’’

Raine & Horne Wollongong, which is located in the CBD in Corrimal Street, is one of many businesses still without broadband connection.

Company director Joshua Kersten said the problem began on Saturday when the server went down and staff were unable to access incoming emails or send outgoing ones. There was also no internet connection for the PCs in their office.

Mr Kersten said a significant amount of work within a real estate agency was web-based.

‘‘It’s been very frustrating,’’ he said.

‘‘We’ve had to use our iPads and one laptop that’s available in the office. We haven’t been able to use the PCs.

‘‘We’ve found a way to get around it by tethering the mobile and using the data from our phones to access the internet.

‘‘But that hasn’t helped us with email. All that’s done is given us internet access which has allowed us to use our real estate database system and also getting information launched on the net but that’s basically as much as we can do.’’

Mr Kersten said his office employed 20 staff, with each employee receiving around 50 emails each day. No ADSL connection had made simple work tasks more time-consuming.

‘‘It hasn’t stopped things but it’s just made the whole process involved – whether it be property management or sales – a lot more difficult,’’ he said.